Titanic
by anime-fan-willa
Summary: Their doubles defeated by Team Guy, Itachi & Kisame share a romantic moment. But Itachi's loveless past & worrying about only himself so as not to get hurt again get in the way of their relationship. Will Kisame prove to Itachi that falling in love is OK?
1. Chapter 1: You're beautiful

"It would seem I've been defeated," Itachi said, opening his eyes.

His partner chuckled. "Guess I have, too" he said, "that Guy is really something."

"As is Naruto Uzumaki." The Uchiha added.

"You mean that 9-tails brat? He didn't seem like much last time I-"

"He's grown."

Itachi stood up on the rock he was perched on, and slowly began to unbutton it. As he did so, the wind danced violently with his hair, playing with the stray strands that weren't in his ponytail.

Once his cloak was fully unbuttoned, he let it slip to the ground.

Next, he pulled out his hair tie, letting his silky black mane whip back freely with the wind.

The raven closed his eyes and slowly raised his arms out to either side, as if balancing on the rock he stood upon.

"The wind," he said, "It feels nice."

Kisame gazed upon his partner. Could he be… smiling?

He was! The emotionless, toneless, expressionless murderer was SMILING!

Ever so stealthily, for he feared the wrath of his partner should he notice his movements, the shark man stood up and walked behind his partner. The long black hair lashed at his face while the wind manipulated it, but the breeze also did the courtesy of carrying his sweet scent back.

"It's so nice and quiet out here." Itachi said.

"Sure is," Kisame replied softly, "I really like the view from here."

Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around the Uchiha's waist. "He didn't kill me"! he thought, shocked, and after resting a moment to make sure, dared to take it a step further, placing his head on the other man's shoulder.

Itachi didn't attack him this time either, making Kisame feel like this was his lucky day.

"Hey, Itachi?" he asked.

"Hn?"

"You're beautiful."

Itachi didn't reply.

"Did you know I had feelings for you?" Kisame tried again.

"Hn."

"Do you, maybe, possibly, have feelings for me too?"

"Hn."

"…You're not very talkative, are you?"

"Hn."

Kisame let out a low chuckle.

"I guess that's good, though." He smiled, exposing his razor sharp teeth, "because if you were, you wouldn't be the man I've fallen in love with."


	2. Chapter 2: The you of today

"That's good. Because if you were, you wouldn't be the one I fell in love with."

"Kisame."

"Yah?"

"Don't speak of love in front of me."

Itachi's tone had completely changed, as he spun around and glared at his partner, who quickly removed his hands from his hips.

Kisame's eyes widened. "What do you mean? I do love—"

"Don't."

The wind began to howl louder, causing the raven's hair to whip violently around his already menacing face, as his eyes squinted and focused on the pair in front of him.

Suddenly, Kisame found himself in the middle of a dark town.

"Where am I?" the shark wondered out loud.

He looked up, and saw the full moon. Looked down, and saw blood. Looked to either side, and saw... the Uchiha crest.

"Damn." He chuckled darkly, "I'm in his Genjutsu, aren't I."

Just then, a blood-curdling cry pierced the air, and the Mist ninja began to run towards its source.

Sasuke stood in the doorway, shaking. "NII-SAN! WHO COULD'VE DONE THIS?"

Itachi smiled, but said nothing, raising his sword high above his head.

"No... It can't be... NII-SAN NO!"

One quick movement, a slicing sound, and then two corpses fell to the ground.

Kisame stared. "So this is Itachi's past..."

Then, as quickly as the vision had come, it was gone. Kisame found himself, instead on the pavement, watching Itachi and his younger brother once more.

"W-why... WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?"

"Why, Sasuke? To test my strength."

"No. No! NO!"

Kisame watched in horror as Itachi proceeded to torture his brother until he was on the blood covered ground, crying.

"Itachi..." he whispered, "so this is what you did..."

The Uchiha prodigy turned and began to hastily walk away, his partner on his tail.

Then, he spoke. "Do you see why, now, Kisame?"

The shark jolted. "I didn't expect you to talk to me in a memory."

"Do you?"

He looked down through his slits of eyes.

"Yes." He whispered, so softy he could barely hear it.

"Good. Then you understand why you must never discuss that word in front of me."

"Because you don't love anyone?"

"No."

"Then wh—"

He stopped mid-sentence, as something wet splattered on his cheek. He touched it. "Rain?" He thought, and looked up at the sky. "No. Not rain."

Then a sudden realization dawned on him. "A tear"

Kisame quickened his pace, and it wasn't long before he past the Uchiha, and stood in front of him, blocking his path.

He was indeed crying.

"Itachi..."

"Do not speak to me."

The Uchiha tried to push past him, but the shark laid his hands firmly on his shoulders.

"No." he smiled, "I will speak to you."

"Why do you bother?"

Kisame froze.

When he didn't reply, Itachi continued.

"Why do you follow me?

Why do you comfort me?

Why do you care about me?

Why do you try to help me?

Why do you insist on being close to me!

WHY WOULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT TO BE WITH ME!"

Kisame smiled.

"I follow you because I want to be near you.

I comfort you because it makes me sad to see you cry.

I care about you because you are special to me.

I help you because you help me.

I want to be close to you because you make me happy.

And I want to be with you..." He paused, taking Itachi's face in his palm.

"...because I love you."

Tears began to stream from the usually emotionless eyes, and Kisame braced him in his arms.

"It'll be alright." He cooed.

"But I don't deserve love!" Itachi cried, "I don't deserve to be cared for!"

"But I DO care." The blue man chuckled, "and I will, no matter what you've done in the past. Because..."

He leaned back, and stared right into his partner's eyes. "Because the you of today is the one that I can hold like this."

And with that, he leaned forward, and softly pressed their lips together.

When he leaned away, Itachi had stopped crying. "Then it would seem that you're stuck with me." He said. "No matter what."

"Yah." Kisame agreed. "No matter what. I like the sound of that!"


	3. Chapter 3: Hidden relationships

Pein cleared his throat. "Glad to see you two made it back," he scowled, "I was beginning to wonder where you were."

Kisame flashed a wide, fang-bearing grin. "Oh!" he smirked, "Heh heh! Itachi and I were k—"

"—Taking care of some bandits." Itachi interrupted, "They ambushed us on our way back. Our deepest apologies."

Small, slit-like eyes stared at him. "We were WHAT?" Kisame retorted.

The weasel spun his head around to glare at the shark right in the eye. "We were killing bandits. Isn't that right, Kisame...?"

A cold chill ran down the Mist-ninja's spine, and he shivered violently. "Y-yah!" he stuttered, "That's exactly what we were doing!"

Itachi smirked. "Good boy." He whispered.

...

At dinner, neither Itachi nor Kisame said a word.

Neither ate.

Neither drank.

Neither even glanced at each other once...

Eventually, Itachi stood up silently, and glided away to his room.

Seeing this, Kisame stood up a little too quickly, knocking against the table, causing his glass to fall over onto his plate.

"Sorry!" he stammered, looking quickly at the rest of Akatsuki, before rushing after his partner.

...

"ITACHI!" he hollered as he slammed their door shut behind them.

"Hn? What is it, Kisame?"

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT IT IS!"

"I'm afraid you are mistaken."

"DAMNIT ITACHI!"

A loud crack filled the room as a wooden chair was thrown against the wall by the shark, causing it to smash into 7 pieces.

The raven looked at his lover without emotion.

"Kisame, could this have to do with what I said earlier?"

The way the Uchiha said it, it sounded like he genuinely didn't know. But he did.

"WELL YAH! IT IS!"

"I see. How unfortunate..."

The Mist ninja raised a dark blue eyebrow. "What is?"

"Well," Itachi began, "I just thought you were more mature than this."

"MATURE? You lied about US!"

"Is that a problem, Kisame?"

"DAMN RIGHT IT'S A PROBLEM"

"And why is that?

"WHY ARE YOU ASHAMED OF OUR RELATIONSHIP!"

The raven looked down. "You truly are dense." He said.

"WHAT DID YOU SA—"

"I said you're an idiot, Kisame. A fool, a child, immature."

Suddenly, his blue face turned so red it was purple.

"AND WHAT MAKES YOU SAY THAT?"

"Because you don't have the slightest idea what I'm talking about." Itachi sighed. "Really, Kisame. Think before you act."

This made the shark pause, slightly intrigued.

"What do you mean?" he asked, "What ARE you talking about...?"

Itachi smirked, and a menacing aura rose from him. "We're the world's strongest." He said, "The fastest, the smartest, the most feared," a pause, "and the BEST."

When Kisame didn't reply, his partner continued.

"We fight together, and yet we must not get attached. For when the time comes when one of us is defeated in battle, the other must leave him."

Kisame stared, bewildered, the color draining from his face as the Uchiha's prodigy continued.

"If you fall, I'll leave you. If you're wounded, I'll abandon you."

Itachi looked up. "Do you know why this is, Kisame?"

"N-no..."

"It's because we are Akatsuki. Akatsuki is a group of the best, but only one can be THE best." His beautiful, dark lips curled up on one side. And then he was gone, but only to reappear a second later next to the shark, yet facing the opposite direction. Kisame jumped, and Itachi whispered in his ear. "This is why I'll welcome your death."

Inside his chest, a large blue heart made a particularly loud thump. "...Ita...chi..."

"You can't really blame me though!" Itachi stated a second later, upon reaching the door. "Anyone would do the same. We were put in these pairs in the first place, not because we're not strong enough to stand alone, but to test if we're strong enough to stand together. That way," he paused, now on the other side of the room with the door half way shut, his hand still on the handle, "we're tested to see not only if we can work well with others, but to see if you can watch the closest person to us die."

He chuckled darkly. "Caring only for yourself... that's true strength."

A tear rolled down Kisame's cheek as he recited the one rule of Akatsuki, which they had all been taught upon arrival. "I-if you can stand, stand on your own two feet."

"So you understand then." Itachi smirked, starting to slowly close the door once more.

"You understand that I cannot love you."

Then the crack was completely closed, and Kisame was left there in the middle of the room, all by himself, crying.

Salty tears were his only company.


	4. Chapter 4: Distraught

It had been 3 weeks since Itachi had broken Kisame's heart.

Although I'm sure if you asked the mist-ninja, he wouldn't use the word "broken" as much as 'destroyed'.

Perhaps he'd take a different approach entirely. Maybe he'd describe what his partner had done in a simile instead of a single word, like 'ripped it from my aching chest, stomped it flat, and then spit on it'.

But let's not dawdle on Kisame's thoughts; that would be a waste of time. I'm sure his face was more than enough to explain _exactly_ how he was feeling that fine summer's day.

It was mid July, the sky was clear, save for the occasional roaming density of water amidst the air. The sun was warm and, since it was still early in the morning, the sound of birds chorusing in a major key surrounded Kisame and Itachi as the pair walked towards their next destination. They were off to fight and retrieve Naruto Uzumaki without killing him, and that was all there was to the mission. Nothing more.

Suddenly…

"There's a bug on your shoulder."

"Huh?"

Kisame awoke from his trance to see Itachi had stopped moving and was now starring at him.

He stopped as well.

"What?" he asked.

"There's a bug on your shoulder." Itachi repeated blandly.

Kisame turned his head to the left, and sure enough, there was a large white moth perched on his shoulder.

"TSK!" he spat in disgust, and drew back a hand to slap at it, but his partner's long, slender fingers caught his wrist before he could kill the creature.

"Don't be hasty." The Uchiha said, "There's no reason to kill him. He has just as much right to be here as you do, if not more."

Kisame blushed at his partner's touch, and as you can imagine that was quite the awkward sight because blue skin and red blush make a purple face.

He looked down as Itachi gently reached out his index finger with the nail painted so perfectly. The moth immediately climbed onto it.

"There." The raven said, "all better."

He gave his finger a little flick and the large insect flew off.

The shark-man watched in awe as the moth flew away, starring after it until it was no longer within view.

It always amazed him how gentle the Uchiha could be…

His cold eyes and sadistic nature, which rivaled that of even Uchiha Madara, were enough to convince anyone that this Akatsuki member was not to be trifled with.

However, the same man that would tortur you for 72 hours if he didn't like the way you looked at him had a soft side. It was something only Kisame had ever seen, and that made him feel just the tiniest bit special inside.

Then…

"You're lagging behind."

"DAMNIT" Kisame cursed, noticing that Itachi was now a good 25 feet in front of him.

Rolling his eyes, he jogged his way up to his partner.

"Wait uuuup!" He whined.

"Catchup."

"Itachiiii"

"Stop whining. You sound like a child."

"Then stop ignoring me!"

The raven spun around and glared at his partner.

Immediately, Kisame's puppy-dog face turned into that of someone who'd just been to hell and back.

Itachi's piercing eyes seemed to spear his very soul as his sharingan began to spin.

"Shit" Kisame thought, "he's gonna torture me for sure!"

But he didn't.

With a sigh, Itachi closed his eyes, turned around, and resumed walking.

"I'm ignoring you because you're stupid." He spat.

"Hey that's not fair," Kisame whimpered, "I just want attention!"

"Like I said; stupid."

"But Ita—"

"Shut up, Stupid."

"Hey! Now you're just being plain mean!"

"StOOOOOOpid!"


	5. Chapter 5: Getting even

A person who's had their heart broken tends to go through the following stages:

1. Mope about it

2. Try to convince themselves there's still a chance

3. When affection is still not returned, sadness turns to anger

4. Get even

After having his love squashed by Itachi, Kisame had been incredibly sad and dreary, and then attempted to get Itachi's attention and regain his love. At this point, he'd completed the first two stages of heartbreak. When unable to rekindle their romance, thanks to Itachi's whole "I'll leave you to die" speech, Kisame's former remorse turned to red-hot rage. He hated his partner with a passion, hated that he wouldn't love him in return. He began to hate every little detail of the raven; he hated his long, beautiful hair, his feminine eyelashes and plush lips. He hated his slender fingers and physique, how he seemed to glide instead of walk, the way he always talked in a melancholy voice, and most of all Kisame loathed how he knew he was madly in love with this man he hated so much. Now he moved onto stage four: getting even.

The first of many attempts to come went like this: Being the immature person he was, Kisame put fire ants in Itachi's cloak. Little did he know he was under the Mangekyo Sharingan the entire time, and ended up having fire ants in his own cloak.

His second try included sneaking up on his partner from behind as he was washing his face at the river. However, Kisame's plan went awry as his hand clasped down on the other man's shoulder, only to be hurtled into the water himself. As the current dragged him away Itachi called after him "Don't startle me like that, I thought you were an enemy, stupid."

At the end of the day, all Kisame had managed to do was make himself rather sore and more grumpy than ever. As the sun began to sink behind the mountains, and one partner wished he could share this moment romantically with the other, the two began to set up camp.

As Itachi pitched the tent, Kisame took off his soaked cloak and wrung it out. After that, he took off his shirt and squeezed the water out of that, too. Just as he was about to take off his pants he felt an uncomfortable stare on the back of his neck and turned around to see Itachi staring at his muscular figure in the setting sun, and blushing. When they made eye contact, Itachi looked away and got back to the busy work of pitching a tent ever so slowly. Scoffing, the shark turned back around and slipped his drenched pants down onto his ankles. He felt the stare again. Spinning around, he Itachi's red eyes on his crotch. Kisame's face turned a deeper purple than it had ever been before that moment in his life.

"What the hell, man?" he growled.

"S-Sorry…" Itachi muttered, and resumed pitching the tent.

This time Kisame didn't turn around, but inched his underwear off bit-by-bit, watching his perverted partner all the while, stopping every time he thought he saw the other's eyes flash in his direction, although usually it was his imagination. Finally, he'd managed to get his soaking wet underwear off, and, without taking his eyes off the raven, reached for his pack that he kept his spare change of clothes in. Feeling around, his hand caressed a book, his toothbrush, and a single sock. There was nothing else. Panicking, but still keeping his eyes on Itachi, Kisame's hand frantically searched the contents of the bag again. Still nothing.

A bead of sweat built on his temple and he let his gaze drop to the bag for just a second. His clothes were nowhere to be found.

"Shit!" He cried out, and then remembered to look back up to make sure his partner wasn't peeping. That one second he'd taken to look down at his bag had cost poor Kisame his dignity.

Standing directly over him, wide-eyed and red-faced was Itachi.

"HOLYSHIT!" Kisame scrambled back frantically and covered his privates with his hands.

Itachi just stared.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT" The blue man hollered, "DON'T YOU HAVE A TENT TO PITCH OR SOMETHING!"

"I finished." The raven said quietly.

"Eh?"

"I said I finished pitching the tent."

Kisame became angrier and angrier.

"THEN HELP ME LOOK FOR MY CLOTHES!" he screeched.

"But I already know where they are."

"You WHAT?"

"Your wet clothes ARE your spare clothes." Itachi pointed out flatly. "After you put fire ants in your original pair, you changed into your extras. Remember?"

Words cannot describe the look of embarrassment that crossed Kisame's face at that moment.

"How could I have made such a careless mistake!" was what he thought to himself, but what he said was "Then why didn't you tell me that BEFORE I got naked?"

"Because your stupidity isn't my problem."

Itachi had a habit of being really blunt. He also had no shame in being cruel, and therefore didn't try not to be… even if it meant being attacked by his furious partner because of that.

Stopping him mid-blow, Itachi pinned the nude, blue man to the ground.

Kisame began to panic, he knew he was no match for Itachi, he knew if they were going to fight he'd lose, he knew—

People on the receiving end of a person's love go through the following three stages:

1. Happiness and acceptance of the emotions

2. Self-doubt, doubt of partner, and second-guessing the relationship

3. Trying to ignore the one they love in order to ignore their own emotions

4. Giving into the feelings they possess.

Right now Itachi was approaching the fourth. Maybe it was because he'd had quite enough of Kisame's shenanigans, maybe it was because he hated to see the man he loved upset. Whatever the reason, it caused the rogue ninja to take off his own cloak and wrap it around his shaking partner.

Kisame's jaws didn't open once to say a single word after that; he simply looked upon his partner's well-toned chest for a brief moment, scurried off into the tent, and curled up. That night he lay back to back with Itachi. Neither slept well that night, their heads too full of fantasies and their bodies not wanting to stop focusing on each other's heat.


	6. Chapter 6: Can't leave you

By the time the sun rose, Itachi had already been up for quite a few hours. Unable to sleep the night before, he had spent his time gathering edible plants and packing up camp. In the middle of the clearing they'd set up camp in the night before, Kisame sluggishly crawled from his sleeping bag and stretched his tired muscles in the brisk, morning air. By the time he followed Itachi's footprints to the nearby creak, his partner was fiddling with string on a stick, trying to built a makeshift fishing pole. Finally, a chance to show off! Suppressing a giggle at the sight of the man who was good at everything trying to tie string to a stick and puffing out his bare chest, Kisame ran into the creak, his feet splashing water behind him as he began frantically grabbing one large trout after the other with talin-like nails, tossing them ashore as he went. By the time nearly a dozen fish had stopped squirming on the shore he turned around, out of breath, to face his partner. Although panting, he also wore a rugged, satisfied smile. Itachi, soaking by this point, felt his cheeks burn at the site of the handsome man smiling at him, his bare, wet body gleaming and sparkling in the sunlight. He broke their gaze freed his hair from its pony tail, then shook his head like a dog to loosen some of the water droplets from his partner's overzealous splashing. Kisame's smile faded, thinking Itachi was displeased. Trudging onto the shore, he scooped on the fish and Itachi followed. The raven quickly lit a fire, using the Uchiha's famous fire ball jutsu while the shark gutted his haul with his bare hands, and skewered them with thin, fallen branches.

The meal was made and eaten in silence, within the half hour. They walked through the forest, and in the town over, snuck into a cabin and stole Kisame some clothing. Although he was sad to see Itachi's chest covered by his cloak once more, Kisame was more than happy to protect himself from that invasive breeze. He didn't even want to think what could've happened if they'd had to fight while he was in that compromising state... Having said that, the stolen artifacts were obviously too small, the shirt ripping in the chest as soon as he forced in over his shoulders, and the pants both too short and too tight. He looked like a Robin Hood gone wrong. Really, really wrong. Like, bad 90's porno with a body builder wrong. Needless to say, Itachi couldn't keep his eyes off of him. The definition of the thighs, the bare skin forcing its way through the tight cloth on his perfectly defined chest muscles, the smooth curve, the bulge of his... let's not finish that thought. Perhaps that was the reason he walked behind him on their way to the next town.

Too preoccupied with Gluteal muscle movement to notice the bandits, he ducked just in time to avoid the flying kunai but slipped in the decomposing leaves and hit his head on the tree behind him. Kisame was quickly there to sling him over his shoulder and jump into the tree branches, then make a mad dash to the East. "Put me down!" Itachi said, flustered. Raising his voice caused a spike of pain in the back of his head, but he insisted, trying to break free. "You're injured," Kisame tried to reason with him, "there's no point in fighting if we don't have to." Struggling to get free, Itachi struck a pressure point in Kisame's neck, and managed to get free in the moment. Just as his feet lightly took footing in the tree beneath them, an exploding tag latched itself to Kisame's ankle. The branch broke in the explosion, and they both toppled to the ground. Itachi's landing was softened by Kisame's body. Springing up, ready for battle, his partner did not do the same. Kisame's ankle was twisted in a quite awkward way, bent in an unnatural direction, that made Itachi uncomfortable just looking at it. He made to go help his partner stand, but the group of 4 bandits had already appeared in a crescent moon shape around him. I wonder what went through Itachi's mind during this time. To the East was the path to the next town, to his right was a pathetic man, curled up in a ball, trying desperately to stand, about to meet his maker from 4 lowly bandits. It would take less time and effort to leave him there. It was the logical thing to do, right? He'd said it himself. Perhaps he didn't think at all in this moment. He just moved the way his heart told his body to, but to Kisame, who forced his heavy lids open just long enough to see the blurry figure of the most beautiful nightmare standing over him in a protective stance, he could feel his body warming, his heart pumping extra blood, his love wasn't going to leave him. Before Itachi knew what was happening, four more idiots had made their way onto the mountain of his body count. Blood red as his eyes splattered the ground in precise, neat cuts. Searching their things quickly, he found both his and Kisame's pictures with a ridiculously large sum on wanted posters folded in four inside the hip pouch of one of them, and made a mental note to watch out for these signs in the future. If he were Kakuzu, he might have tried to kill his partner for all those zeros. As it was, he set up camp in the forest (Kisame would attract too much attention in a hospital) and, once his partner was safely hidden, Itachi transformed into one of the dead from earlier and headed into town to get medical supplies and water.

"This will hurt." Itachi said, holding Kisame's disfigured ankle with purple, bloated foot ever-so-lightly with his delicate fingers.

No response; only heavy breathing came from a scrunched up face.

The raven's free hand traced Kisame's lips almost weightlessly, ghostly, and then suddenly his palm pressed down fiercely over his mouth as the other hand snapped his ankle back into place.

The loud crack echoed in the trees, and the crows in the branches flew off.

Throughout that whole night Itachi placed cold towels on Kisame's forehead, and dabbed gingerly at the fresh stitches and tender flesh with a rag dipped in alcohol, rinsed the blood off in the bucket of water, and repeated this until all the blood was gone and the swelling had gone down a tiny bit. He stayed up all night nursing his partner, and by the time the sun rose, he had changed his bandages twice already and continued to change the cold towels on his sweaty brow. Despite the pain, Kisame was content. Although barely conscious, he was aware that Itachi was tending to him for god knows how long. And he kept repeating to himself, "He didn't leave me. He didn't leave me." He wheezed a sort of laugh at some point, and Itachi smiled back at him. At this point, Kisame could have sworn a kiss was placed on his forehead between damp clothes, but he decided it was only his imagination.


End file.
